In the City Of Love
by bluediamondsonagreenfield
Summary: Rick takes Alexis and Kate to Italy for summer,and he starts to peel away the layers of the 'Beckett Onion' but is he okay with this new look at her?
1. Richard and Kate

Richard Castle smiled down at his girlfriend. She was beautiful, and that was an understatement. NYPD homicide detective Kate Beckett was laying in his bed and he remembered how long it took him to get there. They hadn't slept with each yet, but Castle was hoping that their Italian vacation would change that idea. Alexis was begging Rick to take her. Once Rick said yes to his smart-beyond-her-years daughter nonstop pleading, Alexis asked if Kate to go, making sure their new family member wasn't feeling left out. Soon after asking her if she would like to go, Kate and Rick started to date. Now today it was the day they were leaving. Rick smiled when he noticed when Kate started to wake up. "Ahh, good morning detective," Castle said with his cocky smile. Kate sat up and stretched, almost hitting Castle with her arm.

"Sorry." Beckett's lips curled into a little smile. Suddenly Alexis knocked on the door.

"Dad, are you packed?" Alexis questioned. Castle didn't answer. "DAD!"

"Sorry, we'll leave in an hour."

Alexis looked at Kate, mostly because Kate usually slept in the guest bedroom. "Okay, promise?"

"I promise, now go see if Gram's up yet?" Castle ordered his daughter. Alexis nodded and walked off down the hall to her grandmother's room. Beckett looked over at him.

"You're not packed yet?" Castle shrugged his shoulders.

"What can i say, I'm an procrastinator." Kate's smile got a little wider.

"I think I realized that."


	2. How did we get here?

Just like he had promised, Castle, Beckett, and Alexis left an hour later. The ride to the airport was a silent one. Alexis reread the book about Italy she had brought the year before, but every now and then she would peer over the top of the book to see her father's and detective Beckett's hands intertwined. The teen would also noticed Richard's and Kate's subtle glances at each other and that made the blue eyed, red haired teen smile to finally see her father happy.

Richard Castle tried extremely hard to focus on the road ahead of him, but his mind keep drifted the detective sited next to him. Frequently, his eyes would drift to her and occasionally he would catch her looking at him, but mostly she seemed off in Beckett's world.

Kate Beckett rarely out a week off of work, let alone a whole month. Captan Montgomery had told her to go vacation and get her mind off of homicides. Reluctantly she agreed, not really wanting to leave New York or the 12th precinct for more than week. Now her thoughts her focused on her team and how well they would do without Castle and her there. Kate's mind also kept wondering to her love sitting next to her. She thought about they're future, if they would get married, of have children and if they what would they name them. All of these things so far out of reach, but yet so close. Its seemed like yesterday that Castle had come to observe her for Heat Wave and now they were going on vacation together, dating.

Rick pondered how much longer he could go without hearing his girlfriend's voice. Luckily for writer boy, that wasn't long. Beckett's phone started to ring. "Hello?" Beckett asked after pulling her phone out of her jeans.

"Hey Girlie," Lanie Parish called through the phone.

"Hey."

"Aren't you and writer boy leaving today?"

"yes, Lanie."

"So you never told me where you going."

"Italy."


	3. I have somethings to tell you

Alexis Castle's were slowly closing while she laid on the couch in her father's private jet. Kate was reading Castle's latest manuscript for 'Naked Heat'. Rick had his laptop out and was beginning his third book, 'Still Heat.' Detective Beckett looked at him. "Another sex scene?" She asked, but this time she hoped it would be true soon. It took Kate a year to figure out how much she loved him. Castle shrugged and got up. He got a blanket and draped over his daughter.

"Movie?" Castle asked, opening a wicker chest, revealing hundreds of DVD's. Beckett smiled and threw the manuscript onto the table. She waltzed over to where he stood, her feet bearly hitting floor. She reached into the chest and pulled out a dvd. She opened the case and handed Castle only the white cover disc. Castle put the disc into the dvd player and grabbed a blanket to hand to Beckett. Kate took it, sat back down, and draped it over her lap. Rick started the movie and sat down next to Beckett. "Ahh Forrest Gump, good movie."

"It was mom's favorite movie." Castle looked over at her once she said that. Her eyes are focused on the blanket. Her fingers gripped the chain around her neck. He saw a few tears roll down her cheeks. Castle wrapped his arm around her. It one of the few times he's seen her let down her strong guard, like nothing could hurt her. He didn't say anything, the advantage of living with women. Kate looked up at him and smiled. 'Thank you' she mouthed. Castle understood that she was happy with him just not saying anything, letting her express her emotions.

* * *

Half way through the movie, Kate noticed that Richard was asleep. She picked up her bag without removing her head from Castle's shoulder. Kate pulled out a photo album. On the cover, in Kate's handwriting, was her mother's name, 'Johanna Beckett'. The cover photo was the last family photo with Johanna and a two year old girl. Also in the picture was Kate's father and Kate's older brother, Jonathan. She gazed over at her boyfriend. She thought about how peaceful he looked the she realized something. 'Oh God,' she thought to herself. 'I love him.' Kate stood up a walked around the cabin of the aircraft. She thought she had been in love before, but this feeling was different. She felt that she finally belonged somewhere and that someone was always gonna take care of her. She also realized that Castle would always be near, and Kate was excited about this idea, when with how much Castle annoyed her. Kate sat back down, after grabbing a pen and a napkin. In her perfect handwriting, Kate wrote.

_ Richard,_

_ I have so many things to tell you._

_Love,_

_ Katherine_

She took a deep breath and placed the note on his laptop. Kate looked down at her father's watch. 1:19. 'One more hour.' She thought. Kate snuggled close to Rick. "Please don't be mad," She said out loud, fully knowing that no one could hear her.


	4. A little secret kept to long

Kate tried to sleep for the next half hour, without success. She took a deep breath before she woke up Rick. "What?" He asked sleepily, as he woke up.

"I really have to tell you something." She sounded worried and scared, which instantly made Richard scared.

"Kate, what is it?"

"I have a daughter," She mumbled under her breath, hoping that Rick wouldn't hear her. Sadly he did.

"What?" Rick asked in a more confusing tone than in an angry one.

"I put her up for adoption after my mom was murdered." Richard wrapped his arms around her and pulled her onto his lap. He wouldn't imagine having to leave Alexis forever and never having the chance to never talk to her and tell her way she was sent away. Kate rested her head on his chest and listened to his heart beat. She started to hum her favorite song, Forever Love by Reba McEntire. Then she started to sing, at first quietly to her self then she got loud enough so that Castle could hear her, but not loud enough to wake Alexis. Rick smiled.

"You have a beautiful voice," He mumbled into her hair. Kate glanced up at him.

"Really?"

"I would never lie to you." Kate started to fell bad now. Her eyes started to tear up. Rick looked down at her. "Hey, don't feel bad. You did what you had to. I'm sure she would understand."

"That's just it Castle. She'll never know. Just like you'll never know who your father is and I'll never know who wanted my mom dead." As she spoke, tears started to race down her cheeks.

* * *

Back in New York, the boys had a new case on their hands. They were debating either to call Beckett or not. The vic was Lucy J. McAl's, age 13, stabbed then drowned in a creek. She was found by a group of teenagers. To Ryan and Esposito the case was normal, before Lanie found a few things. "You better have a good reason pulling us down here to look at dead bodies," Ryan told Lanie as they walked into the morgue. Lanie rolled her eyes before she removed the cover, revealing the girl's stomach and the stab wounds.

"Look familiar?" Lanie asked. Both Ryan's and Esposito's eyes got wide once they realized what they were looking at.

"I thought..." Esposito started.

"We did..." Ryan finished. All four of their eyes were focused on Lanie.

"And it turns out the Ms. McAl's here was adopted when she was two years old. You'll never guess her mother," Lanie told them. Ryan and Esposito glanced at each other before looking back at the M.E. "Ms. Katherine L. Beckett." Ryan and Esposito had the same thought, 'Beckett's a mother.'


	5. Language Woman

Castle and Beckett smiled as they stepped off of plane, with Alexis smiling while she walked in front of them. *"Ciao, signore Castle," The greeter told Castle.

**"Grazie, a voi ci può mostrare alla macchina?" Kate said, in perfect Italian.

***"Sì, la signora Beckett, proprio in questo modo," The greeter took them around the front of the airport where a car waited for them.

"Grazie," Kate thanked before getting into the car with Rick and Alexis.

****"Benvenuti in Italia, dove?" Asked the driver once they all got in the car.

*****"Albergo Borghetti per favore, gentile signore." The driver nodded and left the airport.

"You speak Italian?" Rick asked.

Kate smiled. "Sì, mia madre era fluente in nove lingue, ha pensato che avrei dovuto imparare a poche."

"What?"'

Kate laughed and gave him her famous eye roll. "Yes, my mother was fluent in nine languages, she thought I should learn a few."

"What else do you speak?" Rick asked her.

"Chinese, Finnish, French, Greek, Irish, Spanish, and Swedish."

"Really?" Alexis asked, completely taken away by the new things she learned about Beckett.

"Vraiment, french for really." Alexis looked at her in awe. Kate smiled and fixed her eyes outside the moving car.

* * *

**_*_****_Hello Mr_**

**_**_****_Thank you could you show us to the car?_**

**_*** Yes, Ms Beckett, right this way_**

**_****_****_ Welcome to Italy, Where to?_**

**_*****_****_Hotel Borghetti please, kind sir_**


	6. Grandma

Kate couldn't sleep so she sat up in the kings sized bed that she shared with Castle. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Carefully, she opened the baloney doors and stepped outside. A slight breeze went through her hair, blowing it out of her face. Kate stared up at the stars, knowing her mother was watching every move she made. After a few minutes, Kate walked back into room and knelt down next to her suitcase. Pulling out the photo album, she sat on the floor and started to flip through the pages. For once in eleven years she felt her mother close to her. Even though the album with titled with her mother's name, most of the pictures were of Kate. One photo, she was that young three year old, playing with her favorite baby doll, a six year old ice skating at Rockefeller Center, closely guarded by her brother, a nine year old in front of the Golden Gate Bridge during her family's trip to California, a twelve year old wrapped up in the arms of the father at a father-daughter dance, a fifteen year old at her favorite pizza place with her best friends, an eighteen year old holding her daughter's hand as they walked to the park. One year later a woman standing over a headstone engraved with her mother's name. As Kate turned the page, a letter fell out. She picked up the piece of paper and started to read it.

_Dear my lovely Katherine,_

_Since your mother died, your father has drowned himself in alcohol and your brother has moved across the country, but I'm here. It may seem hard to see, but you're daughter needs you. I can help and you know that I'm always here for you. You're my only granddaughter and I want you to be safe. If you want to put Lucy up for adoption, I'll be here to help you. I'll be here forever and you know that._

_I love you,_

_Nanna_

Kate smiled. Through her mother's death, Kate told everyone that she didn't need anyone to help her, but her grandmother had seen right through her. Kate stood up and sat the album on the small table before she picked up the phone. Dialing the familiar number, she pressed the phone against her ear.

"Ciao nonna."


	7. Io Amore Voi

Kate Beckett was the last one to wake up that morning. She walked into the living room, after taking a shower and putting her hair up. "Where's Alexis?" She asked Castle as she picked up her red leather jacket off of the back of the couch. He didn't take his eyes off of his laptop when he nodded his head back to the teen's room.

"Meredith called. Apparently she's here."

"Oh."

Castle sat his laptop down next to him and turned around. "oh, what? Kate are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It's just if Alexis sees her mom, I don't want to leave you here by yourself." Kate saw the confused look on Castle's face as she slide on her jacket. "I have to met someone."

"Should I be worried about this someone?"

"No, She's harmless. I'll be by noon," She told him before kissing his cheek then rushing out the door. As she ran towards her favorite Italian cafe, she heard her high heeled boots clack against the bricks on the ground. The bottom of her dark washed out jeans were pressed against the ankle of her boots. As she got to the closer to the cafe, she stripped herself of her jacket, revealing a navy blue button down blouse with a half sleeves. Kate smiled when she saw her grandma sitting at the same small table they sat at every time Kate visited. Her grandma, Brenda, had moved to Italy six years ago. She left Kate telling her to take care of her father. But now, Kate needed a woman to talk to, a woman who had been in love before and who knew about heartache. "Hi nanna," Kate said as Brenda stood up. She wrapped her arms around Kate.

"Katie! I've missed you."

Kate smiled as she pulled away from Brenda. "I've missed you too," She replied as they sat down.

"So why did you want to met up?" Brenda asked her youngest grandchild.

"I'm scared, Nanna. I don't know what to do."

"Is this about your writer boy you can't stop talking about?" Kate felt her cheeks getting hotter as her grandmother mentioned Castle. "Aha, you know grandmas can see these things. Now what is it?"

"Io amore lui." (i love him)

"Oh my. KATIE! have you told him?"

"No, that's why i need to talk to you, What do I do?" Kate asked, putting her hand into her hands. Brenda placed a hand onto her granddaughter's lower arm.

"Katie, honey, slow down. Wait until he tells you." Both Brenda and Kate smiled. For the next few hours, Kate and Brenda talked, ate, and shopped a little. Kate returned by to the hotel around 12.

"Did Alexis go see Meredith?" Kate asked as she draped her jacket over the back of the couch. Rick looked up from his laptop.

"Yeah," He replied as he closed his laptop and sat it on the coffee table. Kate sat down next to him and cuddled into his side. "KB?" Kate looked up at him.

"Hmm?"

"Can i tell you something?"

"Of course."

"I love you," Rick whispered into Kate's hair. Kate smiled.

"I love you too."

"Really?

"Really." Kate looked up at him before gently laying her lips onto his.

The next thing they knew, both of them were laying on the bed, naked.


	8. Castle Finds It

That night someone was laying asleep in the penthouse, but this time, it was Castle. Castle noticed the photo album sitting on the table. He picked it up and opened it to the first page. The photo was of a tiny newborn baby girl. The name on the tag was Katherine Beckett. Castle smiled at all the baby the pictures of beckett. As the Kate in the pictures go older, she started to look more like herself. He loved the photograph of her behind the bars at Alaraz prison or the one of her and her daughter walked to the park or even the one when she was ice skating with her brother. Rick loved this tiny look into Kate's forbibben past. He gently placed the album on the bed and got a piece of paper and a pen. He walked back into the bedroom and started to write.

_Dear KB, _

_Go shopping tomorrow with Alexis and Meredith. You'll like it. I have things I need to get taken care of, but met me at Juliet's courtyard at 6. Io will always and forever, amore voi. _

_RC_

Rick placed the note on the photo album the put the album back where he found it.


	9. Sixteen Year Old Beckett

_"oh, come on Katie, you'll love it," Luke Allan told the frightened sixteen year old Kate. _

_"Luke please, don't," Kate screamed, knowing that she wanted this nightmare to end. Luke raised his hand and slapped her, hard. Kate screamed again. This time Luke formed his hand into a fist and punched both her eyes. Kate screamed again and then everything went black._

Kate Beckett screamed as she sat up in her hotel bed. She looked around her before she remembered where she was. The body next to her slowly sat up. "Kate, honey, are you okay?" He asked pulling the woman onto his lap. As she started to cry, she shook her head. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Later," she mumbled into his chest. Castle just sat there, rocking her, for over an hour, but he didn't care. As long as his Kate was okay, he was happy. Slowly, sunlight began to pour into the bedroom and Castle looked back down at Kate and noticed that she had fallen back to sleep. Gently laying her down, he processed to the bathroom to take a shower. After he got out and got dressed, he returned to the bedroom to see Beckett was up, but still in bed. Sitting next to her, Castle placed a hand on her shoulder. "I was sixteen..." She started as she sat up.

_Sixteen year old Katherine Beckett ran down the attic stairs of her grandmother's cottage. "And, where do you think you're going missy?" Johanna Beckett asked her daughter. _

_"She's going to see Luuuukee," Eighteen year old Jonathan Beckett said as he walked into the living room from the kitchen, carrying a bagel. _

_"Will you shut up," Kate said as she chucked the piece of toast she had in her hand at him. Catching the flying toast, Jon stuck his tongue out at her and she did the same. Johanna turned to her mother._

_"Sometimes I think they're five again." Brenda laughed and smiled._

_"You were the same way." Johanna shrugged and turned back to her children. _

_"Now, Miss Katherine where are you going?"_

_"Luke's brother's graduation party," She replied._

_"Now, i thought this whole vacation was to spend time together."_

_"Mom, please!" Rolling her eyes, the same way her daughter did, Johanna agreed._

_"Be back by midnight." Kate smiled and kissed her mother's cheek before leaving. _

_Hours into the party, Luke had dragged Kate into his bedroom. "Luke, what are you doing?" She asked him. _

_"Oh, come on Katie, you'll love it," Luke Allan told the frightened sixteen year old Kate._

_"Luke please, don't," Kate screamed, knowing that she wanted this nightmare to end. Luke raised his hand and slapped her, hard. Kate screamed again. This time Luke formed his hand into a fist and punched both her eyes. Kate screamed again and then everything went black._

"Kate," Castle said, warningly, seeing the tears and hurt in her eyes.

"Can I finish?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Taking a deep breath, she continued. "Then he raped me. A month later, I found out I was pregnant. My dad went crazy, my mom helped me, and well Jonathan went all told you so."

"Who's Jonathan?" Kate instantly remember she hadn't told anyone about her brother, mostly because she hated him. Jonathan had moved to Long Island after she had Lucy and when their mother died, he moved to California, completely embarrassed by everything his family had been through.

"His my brother. My sorry, son-of-a-bitch, embarrassed by everything, never said sorry, never talks, disappeared off the face of the earth, brother."

"Kate, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. I got over him a long time ago."

"Not just about him, i'm sorry for everything." Beckett smiled.

"Thanks, Rick."


End file.
